NGS TrainingDavid Fergusson

NGS review 20th June 2008

Introduction NGS -1

System of providing appropriate training events to help stimulate users into adopting the NGS development of the infrastructure

help bring new applications.

Mechanisms for advertising the training and monitoring the quality

targeting of the training by surveying participants not only at events but also subsequently.

NGS-2 developments

• Working to provide training targeted towards the needs of particular user communities.

• Putting in place mechanisms to stimulate and support the development of local and community based training and education to encourage potential new users of the infrastructure.

• Move towards developing online training

• Continue program of training events

Developing materials

Experience has shown that the most effective strategy is to develop materials using tradition face to face events

testing with real users is possible and then to re-develop the materials for online use.

Training Events for Research Communities

• 29 events

• 9 locations

• > 304 participants

• > 1754 participant days committed.

Distribution of NGS training events

Fostering national and international cooperation and standards

• It is important for training in the NGS to help foster the environment for training and education in grids

• become a part of the general landscape of education in all subjects in the UK.

• This process has to be supported

Open Grid Forum

• Education and Training Community Group• The group is now publishing documents based on

this work in the fields of:– Intellectual Property Rights in training and education for

grids– Teaching-Infrastructure experiences and

recommendations– Curricula for grid training and education– Certification of grid training– Policy frameworks to support grid education and

training

OGF 2

These documents can now be used to provide the input for policy groups laying the ground work for the next phases of development of grid infrastructures in the UK and Europe

(e-IRG, JISC, EGI)

To inform their choices for supporting training and outreach in the future.

e-Infrastructures Reflection Group

The NGS training activity has been working closely with the e-IRG Education and Training Task Force

Outputs of this collaboration are in the process of being adopted by the e-IRG

JISC

In the last year NGS training has been working closely with the uptake projects (ENGAGE, e-UIS, eUptake)

Understanding the requirements for mechanisms to support users in adopting e-Infrastructures

European Grid Initiative – Design Study

• EGI-DS project which is proposing a structure for a long-term sustainable e-Infrastructure across Europe and beyond.

• The NGS training workpackage has contributed strongly to the definition of the structures for training cooperation and collaboration proposed by EGI-DS.

Supporting the introduction of new technologies

• GT4– Presentations, hands-on exercises and video

content are all available in support of this technology.

• Resource Broker/WMS– The long standing collaboration with EGEE

means that a wealth of materials on the resource broker/WMS and experience in working with it are available in the training activity.

Working with other projects

• OMII-UK

• OMII-Europe

• NextGrid

• EGEE

• ICEAGE

eUptake

Follow on surveys2006

51% of respondents owned a e-Science digital certificate.

70% of respondents had used the grid.

44% of those attending induction events felt that they now required more advanced training.

8% had gone on to look for a more advanced cours

e-Learning

Winter School

UK e-Science Collection

t-Infrastructure

• Training certificates being issued for training events from RAL.

• Reservations of a few processors for each event.• A “user interface” machine being provided at TOE-

NeSC, so participants connect to this by Java GSISSH• The NeSC Training Cluster has continued to be used in

support of training events on particular technologies, for example Condor training.

• A tool has been developed by the NeSC TOE Team that automates this distribution of certificates to the trainees via a (secure) web server.

Staffing

• M.Mineter left May 2008

• G.Warner left May 2008

• D.Fergusson in interim

• Recruitment to replace in final stages

Future

• Develop UK Training and Education community to leverage existing resources

• Leverage collaborative work with related projects

• Continue introducing online training to aid scalability

• Develop UK t-Infrastructure provision• Reaching new research communities• Measuring requirements and impact